Traverse rod with slide rings



J y 1965 J. v. GRABER ETAL 3,

TRAVERSE ROD WITH SLIDE RINGS Filed Aug. 14. 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet l J y 1965 J. v. GRABER ETAL 3, 92,994

TRAVERSE ROD WITH SLIDE RINGS Filed Aug. 14. 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,192,994 TRAVERSE ROI) WITH SLIDE RINGS Joseph V. Graber and Ferdinand F. Salzmann, Madison, Wis., assignors to Graber Manufacturing Company, Inc.,,Middleton, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsm Filed'Aug. 14, 1961, Ser. No. 131,187 6 Claims. (Cl. 160---345) This invention relates to drapery. or curtain rod fixtures and particularly to cafe type traverse rod fixtures.

Cafe type curtain rods have heretofore been provided in which the curtain or drapery panel is supported on rings which are slidable along the rod. However, the rings are in direct rubbing con-tact with the rod and tend towear or scratch the rod surface and damage the appearance of the same.

An important object of this invention is to provide a draperymod fixture of the cafe type wherein the decorative ring members are supported for movement along the rod but out of rubbing contact therewith, to prevent wearing or scratching of the surface finish on the rod.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cafe type drapery fixture in which the decorative ring members are shaped to pass over. intermediate drapery rod support brackets. Yet another object of this invention is to provide a drapery rod fixture wherein the drapery is supportedby slide assemblies mounted in a trackway on the rod and decorative ring members are constructed and arranged so as to enable attachment and removal of the ring members from the slide assemblies while the slide assemblies are mounted on the rod, to thereby enable use of the rod fixture with or without the decorative ring members.

Still another object of this invention is to provide traverse rod of the type having a trackway and slide buttons mounted in the trackway for movement therealong, in which the drapery panels are supported by pendants swivelly attached to the slide buttons for free swinging movement, and wherein decorative ring members are mounted on the slide buttons in a manner to maintain the ring members in an upright position substantially perpendicular to the rod at all times.

Other objects of this invention are to provide decorative ring members for use on a cafe type traverse rod which can be interchangeably used on the master and auxiliary slides and which can be readily attached and detached from the respective slides without the use of special tools.

These, together with various ancillary objects and advantages of this invention will be more readily appreciated as the same becomes understood by reference to the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cafe type traverse rod constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view through the traverse rod and illustrating the manner in which the ring members are mounted on the auxiliary slide assemblies;

FIGS. 3 and 4 are transverse sectional views through the traverse rod and illustrating the manner in which the ring members are assembled and removed from the slide assemblies;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one of the decorative ring members;

FIG. 6 is a front view of a portion of the drapery fixture with the drapery rod shown in phantom and with parts broken away and shown in section to illustrate details of construction;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective of one of the master slides illustrating the manner in which the decorative ring member is detachably mounted thereon;

FIG. 8 is a rear elevational view of one of the auxiliary slide assemblies;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of one of the auxiliary slide as: semblies with the decorative ring member removed;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view illustrating a modified arrangement for detachably mounting the ring members on the slide assemblies; and

FIG. 11 is a transverse sectionalview through a modified form of drapery rod and slide assembly.

The drapery fixture. of the present invention includes anelongatedrod 15 which is adapted to be mounted as by conventional support brackets 16 on a supporting surface adjacent a window opening. The rod is of; the transverse type and is formed with a generallyC-shaped crosssection. In the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1-10, the front wall 17 of the rod is rounded to simulate the appearance of a round cafe rod and the rear. wall 18 is flattened and is formed with a longitudinally extending slot 19 therein to define a trackway at the rear side of the rod. Master slide assemblies designated generally by the numeral 21 and a plurality of auxiliary slide assemblies designated generally by the numeral 22- are mounted on the rod for movement therealongfand, a traverse mechanism, including pulley, assemblies 23 and 24 mounted adjacent opposite. ends, of the rods and a traverse cord 25, are providedfor moving the master slide assembly along the rod. One or more intermediate support brackets designated 26 may be provided for long rods to support the latter intermediately their ends. As shown, the intermediate support brackets have a rod clamping portion 27 and amounting portion 28 which extends rearwardly from the rod adjacent its upper end; As is conventional, one edge .ofadrapery. panel is supported on each master slide. while intermediate portions of the drapery panel are supported on the auxiliary slides by suitable drapery pins, so that the auxiliary slides move along the rod with the master slide as the latter is extended and retracted by the traverse mechanism.

The master slide assemblies 21. are supported on the trackway by a pair of slide buttons-31 and-the auxiliary slide assemblies .22 are similarly supported on the*-track-' way by slide buttons 32. The slide buttons 31 and-32 are respectively formed with grooves or channels 33 and 34 in the top and bottom sides thereof which slidably engage the edges of the C-shaped rod along opposite sides'of the slot 19 therein, and the slide buttons are preferably elongated'as clearly shown in the drawings, to'prevent turning of the slide buttons'in the trackway.

The master slides 21 each include an elongated slide body 35 which is attached to a spaced pair of slide buttons 31. The slide bodies each include a conventional drapery cord lock, such as 36 for non-slidably attaching the master slides to the traverse cord 25, and spaced pendant'portions 37 which extend downwardly from the slide'body at the rear side of the trackway. A drapery support means, such as the drapery overlapand underlap arms designated 38a and 38b is provided on the'lower end of the pendant portions 37 on each slide body, and each arm is formed with suitable openings 39 for receiving the conventional drapery hooks by which .the drapery panels are attached to the master slides. The auxiliary slides 22 each have a slide pendant 41 mounted, thereon and which extends downwardly at the rearside of the rod to a point below the rod and has an opening 42'for receiving 7 the conventional drapery hook.

with to prevent wear and scratching of the rod surface. The auxiliary slide pendants 41 are each attached to the respective slide button 32 by means of a rivet 46 which extends through an opening 47 in the pendant, and through an opening 48 in the slide body 31, to permit free swinging movement of the pendant relative to the slide body about an axis perpendicular to the trackway. The pendants are thus free to swing with the drapery panels and provision is made for non-rotatably mounting the decorative ring members 45 on the slide bodies at a point intermediate the pendants 41 and the rear side of the rod. As best shown in FIG. 9, the slide buttons 32 are formed with the oppositely facing grooves 51 which define a generally T-shaped guideway at the rear side of the button and which guideway extends perpendicularto the channels 34. As shown, the decorative ring members 45 have a generally C-shaped configuration, defining an internal opening substantially larger than the cross-section of the rod '15, and the ring members have a mounting portion 53 at one end, which mounting portion terminates in spaced relation to the other end 54 of the ring member. The ring members shown are formed of sheet metal which is shaped to provide an arched cross-section to simulate the appearance of conventional cafe type rings, and the mounting portion 53 of the ring members is flattened and terminates in spaced prongs 55. The ring members may also be formed of other materials such as plastic, if desired. The prongs are spaced apart a distance to span the neck of the Z-shaped guide between the grooves 51, to thereby constrain the ring members against turning relative to the slide buttons, and the prongs 55 are advantageously longitudinally curved sufficient to provide a snug fit between the T-shaped guideways and the slide button, as best shown in FIG. 2. Nibs 56 are formed on the ends of the prongs and adapted to overlie the slide button as best shown in FIGF 2, to releasably clamp the ring members on the slide buttons. A stop shoulder 53 is formed on the mounting portion 53 of the ring member adjacent the lower ends of the prongs 55 and is arranged to engage the underside of the slide button, when the nibs 56 snap over the top of the slide button, to thereby locate the ring members.

The ring members 45 can thus be attached and detached from the slide buttons and, advantageously, the ring members are shaped and arranged so as to enable assembly and disassembly of the ring members from the slide assemblies while the slide assemblies are mounted on the rod, to enable use of the'traverse rod with or without the decorative ring members. As best shown in FIG. 4, the tip of the prongs 55 is spaced from the other end 54 of the ring member a distance somewhat greater than the space between one edge of the trackway 19 and the outer periphery of the rod so that the ring members can be moved into encircling relation to the rod at a point intermediate ot the ends of the latter. Thus, the ring members can be assembled on the rod by first positioning the ring member as shown in solid lines in FIG. 4 and then projecting the prongs into the rod while turning the ring member in a counter-clockwise direction as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 4, until the mounting portion 53 reaches a substantially upright position. The ring members can then be assembled onto the slide buttons by positioning the prongs as shown in FIG. 3 and then pressing the mounting portion upwardly while simultaneously turning the ring member slightly in a clockwise direction to insert the prongs into the guideway formed by the grooves 51. The ring member can be readily removed by pressing the nibs 56 rearwardly and simultaneously withdrawing the prongs from the guideway. With this arrangement, the decorative ring members can be attached or removed from the slides while the rod is mounted on a supporting surface and without requiring disassembly of the slides from the rod. When the ring members are mounted on the slide buttons, they are main tained thereby in spaced relation to the rod, as is clearly shown in FIG. 2, to prevent rubbing of the ring members against the surface of the rod. In addition, the ring members are firmly maintained in a plane substantially perpendicular to the rod while the pendant 41 is free to swing in a plane lengthwise of the rod. Since the ring members are open at the rear side of the rod, the ring members can pass over the intermediate support brackets such as 26, as the ring members move along the rod.

The ring members 45 are also advantageously arranged to be detachably mounted on the master slides 21. As best shown in FIG. 7, the slide buttons 31 are attached to the master slide bodies 35 by rivets 61 which extend through openings 62 and 63 in the slide button and slide body respectively. A vertically extending guideway is formed between each slide button 31 and the master slide body and, as shown, the slide body is formed with spaced vertically extending ribs 64 which engage the rear side of the slide buttons 31 to space the button from the slide body. Projections 65 are formed on the ribs intermediate their ends and are engageable with recesses 66 in the slide buttons to constrain the buttons against turning relative to the slide body. The ribs 64 are spaced apart a distance to snugly receive the prongs 55 therebetween to thereby hold the ring members in an upright position relative to the slide bodies, and the ribs 64 are arranged to space the buttons from the body a distance slightly less than the arch of the resilient prongs 55 so that the nibs 56 on the prongs Snap over the top of the button when the prongs are inserted between the ribs. A stop 68 is formed on the slide body and engages the stop face 58 on the mounting portion of the ring members to position the latter.

A modified arrangement for detachably mounting the decorative ring members on the auxiliary slide buttons is. shown in FIG. 10. In this form, the slide buttons designated 32' are formed with the aforedescribed channels 34- to slidably support the buttons on the trackway. As shown, the drapery pendant 41' is fastened to the slide button by a shouldered rivet 45. The shouldered rivet has a reduced end portion 70 adapted to extend into an opening 48 in the slide button; an enlarged intermediate portion 71, and a second reduced portion 72 adapted to extend through an opening 47' in the pendant. The rivet is riveted over at opposite ends after assembly and the pendant is thus swivelly supported by the rivet for movement relative to the slide button, and in spaced relation to the rear side of the slide button. A ring member 45' having the same general shape as the ring 45 previously described, is formed with prongs 55' adapted to span the enlarged intermediate portion of the rivet, and oppositely facing nibs 56' are provided on the prongs to releasably secure the ring member thereto. A stop 58 is formed onthe ring member and arranged to engage the underside of the slide button 32' to prevent swinging of the ring member relative to the slide button. The slide assembly and ring member of FIG. 10 is otherwise the same as that previously described, and further detailed 7 description is deemed unnecessary.

A further modified drapery fixture is illustrated in FIG. 11. In this embodiment, the drapery rod designated 15" is formed with a generally round cross-section to simulate a conventional cafe type rod. The rod has a flattened top wall 18" formed with a longitudinally slot 19 therein to define a trackway. Slide buttons 32" are slidably mounted in the trackway and may conveniently be of the type illustrated in connection with FIGS. l-9. As previously described, the slide button has opposed channels 34" therein for slidably receiving the side edges of the rod, and opposed grooves 51 laterally offset from the channels, and extending transverse thereto. The decorative ring member designated 45" has spaced prongs 55" thereon detachably received in the grooves, in the manner previously described. The ring'member extends downwardly from the slide button around the front face of the rod and below the underside thereof, as is clearly shown in FIG. 11. A drapery pin support eyelet 42" is attached to the ring member at the underside of the rod for supporting the conventional drapery pin. With this arrangement, the decorative ring member is open at the rear side thereof so that it can readily pass over intermediate support brackets designated 26". As shown, the intermediate support bracket has a saddle portion 27" which underlies the rod and a mounting portion 28 which extends laterally from the saddle portion adjacent the upper rear side of the rod, for attaching the rod to a support surface. As in thepreceding embodiments, the end 54" of each decorative ring member is spaced from the prongs 55" a distance at least suflicient to enable assembly and disassembly of the ring members from the slide buttons, when the latter are mounted on the rod.

From the foregoing it is deemed apparent that the decorative ring members are supported on the respective slide assemblies for movement therewith and in such a manner as to maintain the ring members out of rubbing contact with the rod to prevent wear and scratching of the rod surface. In addition, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-10, the auxiliary slide pendants are supported for free swinging movement relative to the slide buttons while the decorative ring members are maintained in an upright position at all times. The decorative ring members are advantageously open at the rear side thereof to permit the ring members to pass over intermediate support brackets, as is clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 11. In addition, the ring members are shaped so as to enable attachment and removal of the ring members from the slide and from the track, when the rod is mounted on a support surface, to thereby enable the fixture to be used with or without the decorative ring members, as desired.

We claim:

1. A drapery slide for use in a drapery rod having a longitudinally extending trackway comprising, a slide body having opposed track receiving grooves in opposite sides adapted for slidable reception in a trackway, said body having an outer face laterally offset from a planethrough said track receiving grooves, a drapery support pendant, means mounting said pendant on said outer face of said slide body for swinging movement about an axis transverse to said outer face, said body having an ornament mounting guideway disposed generally parallel to said outer face and located intermediate said track receiving grooves and said outer face and extending in a direction transverse to the lengthwise axis of said track receiving grooves, and a decorative member having mounting portion detachably insertable into said ornament mounting guideway for attachment and removal of the decorative member from the slide body While the pendant remains attached to the slide body, said decorative members having a decorative portion extending from said mounting portion and adapted to extend at least part way around a rod.

2. A drapery slide for use in a'drapery rod having a longitudinally extending trackway comprising, a slide body having opposed track receiving grooves in opposite sides for slidable reception in a trackway, said body having an outer face laterally offset from a plane through said track receiving grooves, a drapery support pendant, fastener means mounting said pendant on said outer face of the body for pivotal movement about an axis transverse to said outer face said body having a pair of opposed ornament mounting grooves in opposite ends disposed generally parallel to said outer face and located intermediate said track receiving grooves and said outer face of the slide bbdy and extending in a direction transverse to the lengthwise axis of said track receiving grooves, and a decorative member having a mounting portion with a pair of prongs spaced apart and detachably received in said ornament mounting grooves for attachment and removal of the decorative member from the'slide body While the pendant remains attached to the slide body, said decorative members having a decorative portion extending from said mounting at least'part way around a slide body having opposed track receivinggrooves in opposite' sides slidably mounted in the trackway, said slide bodies having an outer portion disposed outside the rod aud an outer face laterally offset from a plane through said track receiving grooves, a drapery support pendant, means mounting one end of the pendant on the said outer face of the slide for swinging'm'ovement about an axis transverse to said trackway, said slide bodies each having opposed ornament mounting grooves in said outer portion extending generally parallel to said outer face and located intermediate said outer face and said track receiving grooves, and a plurality of like decorative members each having a mounting portion, said decorative members having a pair of prongs spaced apart for detachable reception in said ornament mounting grooves to enable insertion and removal of said decorative members from the slide bodies while the pendants remain attached to .the slide bodies, said decorative members having a decorative portion extending from the mounting portion and adapted to extend at least part wayaround the rod.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said prongs are arched relative to a plane through said ornament mounting grooves to resiliently engage opposite sides of the ornament mounting grooves.

5. A curtain or drapery rod fixture comprising, an elongated rod having a front face and a longitudinally extending slot in the rear face thereof defining a trackway, at least one master drapery slide and a plurality of auxiliary drapery slides, said master slide including a pair of master slide bodies each having a track receiving groove slidably mounted in said trackway; a master drapery pendant spanning said master slide bodies and extending downwardly therefrom; and fastener means attaching said master pendant to said master slides, said auxiliary slides each including an auxiliary slide body having a track receiving groove slidably and nonrotatably mounted on said trackway; a drapery pendant extending downwardly from the auxiliary slide body; and fastener means swingably mounting the drapery pendant at the rear side of the auxiliary slide body for swinging movement about an axis transverse to said trackway, a plurality of like decorative members each having a mounting portion disposed at the rear side of the track-way and a decorative portion extending at least partway around the rod in spaced relation thereto to the front side of the rod, said mounting portions of said decorative members having a bifurcated end defining spaced prongs, said master slide having means defining a guideway extending transverse to the rod rearwardly of the track receiving groove in the respective master slide body and infront of the master pendant for detachably' receiving the bifurcated end of a decorative member with the bifurcated end straddling said pendant attaching means, said auxiliary slides having means defining a guideway extending transverse to the rod rearwardly of the track receiving groove in the respective auxiliary slide body and in front of the auxiliary slide pendant for detachably receiving the bifurcated end of a decorative member with the bifurcated end straddling the respective fastener means, said decorative members being insertable and removable from the guideways while the pendants are attached to the slide bodies to enable use of the fixtures with or without the decorative members, said means on said master slide defining a guideway comprising latenally spaced embossings on the master pendant engaging said master slide body and spacingthe same from the master pendant to define said guideway between the master pendant and the master slide body.

6. The combination of claim 5 wherein said means defining a guideway on the auxiliary slides includes opposed ornament mounting grooves in said auxiliary slide body extending in a direction transverse to said track receiving 8 groove in the auxiliary slide body and det achably receiving 2,942,659 6/60 Stephens 1601.26 said prongs on the decorative member. 2,980,478 4/ 61 Woehrle 24-230 3,040,373 6/62 Graber et a1 160-126 X References Cited y the Examiner 3,119,442 1/64 Ford et a] 160345 UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,662,928 3/28 Kirsch 160345 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,796,777 3/31 Boye 160126 $60,592 7/ f 1,876,061 9/32 Kirsch 160-126 12571 7/90 Grew Bfltam g 2 1125 15 10 HARRISON R. MOSELEY, Primary Examiner. 2,736,373 2/56 Truesdale 160-345 X GEORGE A. NINAS, JR., Examiner. 2,848,735 8/58 Ault et a] 1693 

3. A CURTAIN OR DRAPERY ROD FIXTURE COMPRISING, AN ELONGATED ROD HAVING A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING SLOT DEFINING A TRACKWAY, A PLURALITY OF DRAPERY SLIDES EACH INCLUDING A SLIDE BODY HAVING OPPOSED TRACK RECEIVING GROOVES IN OPPOSITE SIDES SLIDABLY MOUNTED IN THE TRACKWAY, SAID SLIDE BODIES HAVING AN OUTER PORTION DISPOSED OUTSIDE THE ROD AND AN OUTER FACE LATERALLY OFFSET FROM A PLANE THROUGH SAID TRACK RECEIVING GROOVES, A DRAPERY SUPPORT PENDANT, MEANS MOUNTING ONE END OF THE PENDANT ON THE SAID OUTER FACE TO THE SLIDE FOR SWINGING MOVEMENT ABOUT AN AXIS TRANSVERSE TO SAID TRACKWAY, SAID SLIDE BODIES EACH HAVING OPPOSED ORNAMENT MOUNTING GROOVES IN SAID OUTER PORTION EXTENDING GENERALLY PARALLEL TO SAID OUTER FACE AND LOCATED INTERMEDIATE SAID OUTER FACE AND SAID TRACK RECEIVING GROOVES, AND A PLURALITY OF LIKE DECORATIVE MEMBERS EACH HAVING A MOUNTING PORTION, SAID DECORATIVE MEMBERS HAVING A PAIR OF PRONGS SPACED APART FOR DETACHABLY RECEPTION 